One of Melrose Place’s original stars has shocked fans of the iconic soap with her ageless good looks.
Vanessa Williams, who played Rhonda on the first season of the series, reunited with her former castmates Daphne Zuniga, Laura Leighton, and Courtney Thorne-Smith on their recap podcast, Still The Place.
The actress, who is now 61, barely appeared to have aged a day since 1992.
‘Vanessa, you look insanely gorgeous,’ Courtney gushed at the beginning of the podcast.
‘I walked in and I almost fell over. Have you looked better? I’m full of resentment!’ she added.
Original Melrose Place star Vanessa Williams stunned fans of the soap opera with her ageless good looks after resurfacing for an interview this week
The actress, now 61, played fitness instructor Rhonda Blair on the hit series for one season
Fans in the comments section on social media were just as complimentary, with one writing, ‘Vanessa, you don’t age a bit!’
Another wrote, ‘Wow. Vanessa looks fantastic,’ while another added, ‘This cast has aged beautifully.’
A fourth exclaimed, ‘I need to get some of that Melrose Place pool water cause you guys all look fabulous!’
Vanessa was part of the original Melrose Place cast and starred in 32 episodes before leaving the soap.
The Candyman star admitted that it was hard for the show’s writers to figure out what to do with her character, as she was the only Black actor on the series.
‘They didn’t know what to do with my character, which is eventually why I left,’ she explained.
‘There were no Black writers on the show, so there was not a real voice of anyone who had Rhonda’s experience.’
Vanessa reunited with her former castmates Daphne Zuniga, Laura Leighton, and Courtney Thorne-Smith on their recap podcast, Still The Place
‘I need to get some of that Melrose Place pool water cause you guys all look fabulous!’ gushed one fan in the comments section
Vanessa also said that she was one of the few characters on the show who didn’t get to hook up with cast Casanova Jake Hanson (played by Grant Snow), because America wasn’t ready to see an interracial romance at that point.
‘It’s not that they didn’t consider it. I think the affiliates in middle America weren’t really going to buy it,’ she said.
‘Guys, you’ve got to remember what times we were in. These were really like not evolved times. The audience was not woke,’ she added.
It comes after news that CBS Studios is currently developing a Melrose Place sequel series.
Heather Locklear (Amanda Woodward), Daphne Zuniga (Jo Reynolds) and Laura Leighton (Sydney Andrews) are all expected to return.
The original cast of Melrose Place are pictured in a promo from 1992
Rhonda is pictured with co-star Doug Savant, who played Matt Fielding
The sequel will hail from Insatiable creator Lauren Gussis, and will be set years after the original series, which ran seven seasons on Fox from 1992 to 1999.
It will pick up with a number of the original Melrose Place residents reuniting, ‘when one of their dearest friends dies suddenly.’
After they all gather to honor their friend, ‘the pressure cooker of a reunion soon uncovers old traumas, rekindles old romances, reignites old resentments, and reveals new secrets.’
The original characters will be thrown, ‘into chaotic drama that’s reminiscent of the past, but with a much more modern perspective.’
It also seems that this series will essentially ignore the 2009 reboot/sequel that aired for just one season on The CW.
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk